Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Fighting child labour

Fighting child labour

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Young boys wash motorcycles in central Phnom Penh yesterday afternoon. A recently released report found that the Kingdom improved slightly in its fight against child labour last year. Pha Lina

Fighting child labour

While Cambodia marginally stepped up efforts to combat child labour in 2014, a lack of resources and corruption remain massive impediments to the fight, according to a report released by the United States Department of Labor last week.

The report rated Cambodia as having made “moderate advancement” in its anti-child labour efforts, the same ranking it received in 2013.

It attributed those improvements largely to beefed-up inspections from the Ministry of Labour, which increased the number of inspectors trained to find child labour from 35 in 2013 to 58 in 2014.

However, the report states that significant shortfalls remained. For example, as of 2014, child labour inspections were only being conducted in the capital region.

“The Department of Child Labor reports that, due to budget constraints, it is able to conduct inspections only in and around the capital city of Phnom Penh,” the report stated, citing the US Embassy.

However, Veang Heang, head of the Department of Child Labor, yesterday denied that account.

“We do have provincial departments of labour who are in charge of child labour in the provinces,” he said, adding that commenting further would require permission from the ministry.

According to the report, the Labour Ministry conducted 723 inspections in 2014, removing a total of 46 children from 613 factories inspected, a noted increase from 2013, when only 153 garment factories were visited.

However, the report said the government lacks guidelines for inspections, which are “complaint-driven and do not target or monitor where hazardous child labor is known to occur”.

For children working outside factories, including those in agriculture and fishing, anti-child labour regulations are simply unenforced.

Nevertheless, the report praised the Cambodian government’s efforts to target what is deemed the “worst” forms of child labour, such as sex trafficking and slavery.

According to the report, anti-trafficking police now employ 500 officers to fight such forms of child labour, with 56 people – including 9 foreigners – arrested for human trafficking and child prostitution in 2014.

Anti-trafficking police rescued 101 underage victims, who were then referred to the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation.

However, corruption remains a problem in tackling child traffickers at the root level, the report notes.

“Judges can determine whether perpetrators will be imprisoned or fined, as well as the amount of the fine. Further, partly due to the high levels of corruption within the judicial system, the penalties imposed are not uniformly administered and do not adhere to the parameters prescribed by law.”

Joel Preston, a consultant for the Community Legal Education Centre, said determining whether Cambodia was winning the battle against child labour was difficult, given the large scale of the issue.

“It requires such wide-ranging reforms, not just specific to the garment sector, but in education, health, public services,” he said.

“Child labour is such a big problem to address as long as there’s always going to be a motive put kids to work.”

MOST VIEWED

  • Ministry taking steps over Thai ‘replica’ of Angkor Wat

    The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has dispatched experts to inspect the ongoing construction of a temple in Wat Phu Man Fah, located in Thailand’s Buriram province. This temple appears to be a replica of Cambodia’s renowned Angkor Wat. The ministry said

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • PM to open new Siem Reap int’l airport December 1

    Prime Minister Hun Manet and Chinese leaders would jointly participate in the official opening of the new Chinese-invested Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport on December 1. The airport symbolises a new page in the history of Cambodian aviation, which will be able to welcome long-distance flights to

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • Minimum wage set at $204, after Sep 28 vote

    The minimum wage for factory workers in the garment, footwear and travel goods industries for 2024 has been decided at $204 per month, with the government contributing $2. Following several negotiation sessions, the tripartite talks reached an agreement during a September 28 vote, with 46 of 51 votes supporting the $202 figure.

  • Cambodian diaspora laud Manet’s UN Assembly visit

    Members of the Cambodian diaspora are rallying in support of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s forthcoming visit to the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78) in the US’ New York City this week. Their move is an apparent response to a recent call by self-exiled former